British Steel has announced the biggest single investment in its manufacturing operations for a decade, committing GB£50 million (€55 million) to a major upgrade of its wire rod business.
The investment will significantly improve the quality and range of wire rod produced at the company’s headquarters in Scunthorpe, enabling it to grow in current markets and enter new ones – inside and outside the UK.
The upgrade to the wire rod mill will allow British Steel to offer a substantially wider range of sizes, up to 28mm, and achieve tighter tolerances, as well as allowing for improvements in surface condition and micro structural properties. A new, advanced, wire rod line will be designed and installed in the current mill by Primetals Technologies. Work is scheduled to start this summer and the new operation is set to be commissioned in autumn 2019. The existing wire rod business will operate as normal throughout the installation. The Scunthorpe wire rod mill has only recently seen the opening of new laboratories ensuring it has world-class testing facilities.
The expenditure is in addition to the GB£120 million British Steel has already committed to capital projects during its first three years of business and comes eight months after it bought FNsteel, a premium wire rod manufacturer in the Netherlands.
Paul Martin, deputy CEO at British Steel, said: “This is a major investment in the future of our business, underpinning our commitment to providing customers with higher technical specifications of steel and a diverse, premium product range. Not only will this increase our ability to serve the domestic market, it will allow us to become a more competitive exporter and accelerate the growth of British Steel in-line with our company strategy.”
He continued: “The mill upgrade will ensure the British Steel name remains synonymous with quality, innovation and product development. Our wire rod business has a growing order book and this investment will let us build on this by guaranteeing the tighter tolerances and improved surface qualities customers’ demand, particularly in the automotive sector.”
British Steel was formed in June 2016 by Greybull Capital, when it acquired the Scunthorpe steel works from Tata Steel. The company is emphatically proud of its heritage, but just as passionate about building stronger futures for its employees, customers, suppliers and local communities. The steel works produces more than 2.8 million tonnes of steel annually, from which more than 1,450 different specifications of steel are manufactured and rolled into wire rod, sections, special profiles, rail, bloom and slab. British Steel employs 4,400 people in the UK.
Executive Editor Phil Matten met with Richard Sims, wire rods managing director, and Mark Cunningham, project director, to hear more about the background and implications of this huge project – www.fastenerandfixing.com/manufacturing-technology/building-a-stronger-wire-rod-business/
Having held senior management roles in leading automotive and fastener businesses, Phil joined Fastener + Fixing Magazine as editor in 2002. Convinced there is no substitute for ‘being there’, over 17 years of visits and interviews around the world means he has accumulated an extraordinary knowledge and perspective of the global fastener industry, reflected in his incisive and thought provoking reporting.
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